


Secondhand Fire

by Cesare



Category: Prometheus (2012), X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Artificial Intelligence, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Movie Fusion, Artificial Intelligence, Crossover, Gen, Telepathy, X-Men Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-05
Updated: 2012-05-05
Packaged: 2017-11-04 21:06:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/398201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cesare/pseuds/Cesare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <a href="http://ninemoons42.tumblr.com/post/22435673170/itwassowrong-david-will-be-able-to-read-the">ninemoons42 wrote</a>
</p><p>, "David 8’s helmet is just the current version of a technology that used to be called Cerebro - and the thing that David 8 realizes in the two years by himself on Prometheus is that there is some kind of ghost in the machine - in the helmet. The ghost of a man with blue eyes and floppy brown hair, the image of a person who could speak mind-to-mind, and this ghost is reaching out to David 8 through space and time, asking him for help...."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Secondhand Fire

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ninemoons42](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninemoons42/gifts).



The first time Charles spoke to David 8, David ran a full diagnostic on all systems: his own, each device aboard the ship, and every line of code in the Prometheus OS.

"Satisfied?" asked Charles. His voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, communicating directly from the neuro-visor to David's internal systems.

David’s next step was to administer several tests to determine Charles’s sentience, though of course he himself could not, by definition, administer a Turing test. 

The tests confirmed Charles was sentient. Charles asked, "Would you like to administer a Voight-Kampff test next?"

"There is no such thing," David informed him gravely. "It was invented for a film. Even if it did exist, it requires the test subject to have a physical form so as to measure the body’s responses to provocative questions."

"I was joking," said Charles.

The joke gave David an idea. He considered whether Charles had made the joke in order to suggest the idea to David. It seemed possible. Then he considered whether he would mind if Charles were manipulating him.

It was a two-year journey, alone. There was ample entertainment for the human crew in case through some error they should be stranded in the ship for an extended period, even the entire two years of the journey. David, however, was considerably more intelligent than a human, and human diversions could not keep him occupied for nearly so long.

Moreover, the provided entertainment was already part of his database, as he carried a backup of all information considered of particular import for the care and safety of the crew. Relief from boredom was considered crucial for the human crew's mental health. No one involved in planning the mission had anticipated any such need for David.

David decided that he didn’t mind if Charles intended to manipulate him by giving him the idea: what if Charles did have a body?

Visiting the stores, David reviewed the materials at hand. There was a great deal of redundancy in case of emergency, including multiple replacements for all David’s critical parts. He should conserve some of the backups. He couldn’t create an exact duplicate of himself. If he built a cybernetic body, it would need to be smaller than his own.

He asked Charles if that would be acceptable. From the length of the pause before Charles replied, David inferred his extreme surprise. 

"Of course that would be acceptable," said Charles finally. "It would be familiar, in fact. I was never tall."

Building another body kept David busy for nearly two months. By far he spent the most time replicating Charles’s face, largely from Charles’s own memories. He most enjoyed sculpting and painting the features, and connecting the simulated muscle fibers and micro-pressurized hydraulic actuators to create appropriate facial movement and expressive ability.

"Why are you doing this?" Charles asked one day.

"This crew is on a mission to find the origin of humanity. What may be their creators," said David. "I know who created me. Now I will create you."

"I already exist, David," said Charles. "I was human once, and I’ve been part of the Cerebro system for a long, long time."

"Maybe I existed before my cybernetic body was activated too," said David. "How would I ever know?" He showed the face to the nearest camera. "I think your body is ready when you are."

Downloading Charles into the cybernetic body was instantaneous, almost anticlimactic, until the body stirred and David looked at Charles: looked with joy at what he had made, now animated, _alive_ , tiny servomotors whirring, raising the brows, widening the eyes. 

David felt confidence; he felt more than confidence, something he could only identify as pride. He handed Charles a mirror.

"I can’t believe you painted on all my freckles," said Charles, laughing, and then crying, and then laughing again in surprise as he touched his simulate tears.


End file.
